John's Birthday
by butterfly1968
Summary: Liz goes all out for a present for John's birthday but he wishes she had given him something else.


Elizabeth found him out on "their" balcony, quite intently watching the ocean. She smiled as she walked up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder. "Happy birthday Colonel."

"Hey, not so loud," John whispered back at her.

"Oh come on now John, someone's going to find out eventually today."

"Not if I control the situation…how'd you know anyway?"

"I, unlike others, have total access to your files at all times."

"Very sneaky Elizabeth but can we drop the subject now?"

She smirked. "Not before I give you my present." She handed over a cloth-wrapped object.

He sighed before taking it. "And what am I going to tell people when they ask me why you gave me this?"

"Oh just tell him it's a gift for doing such a good job all this time." She smiled and patted his shoulder, quickly taking it away. She couldn't take touching him for too long without wanting more.

He slowly unwrapped the gift he held in his hands. He wished she didn't do stuff like this for him. It was hard enough trying to hide any of the feelings he had for her. His eyebrows rose when the only thing that emerged was a golf ball. "Did you fish this out of the ocean just for me?"

She smiled. "No, though I do disapprove of you using the ocean as a driving course, which is why--"

"You know I would've preferred a sandwich. At least that I can eat."

"Which is why--"

"Roast beef would've been really good."

"Colonel."

"Hey is this one of my golf balls?"

"John!" She finally said firmly. She coughed when he didn't interrupt her. "Which is why…I made the south-western pier of Atlantis a golf course."

"You gotta be kidding me." She simply raised her eyebrows at him and his face immediately went serious. "You're not kidding." When she shook her head, he grinned widely. "Alright so this is better than a roast beef sandwich."

She grinned back. "I'm glad you like it."

"I think it's the best birthday present I've gotten in years." He opened his arms to hug her but suddenly feeling those middle school butterflies in his stomach, he awkwardly grabbed her hand instead. She blushed lightly, feeling the same sensations.

"Would you like to join me down there? You do play golf, right? I don't think I could be friends with a girl who didn't play golf."

"John, really!" She frowned at his comment before breaking out into a smile. "And yes, I do."

"Great. And don't think I'm spotting you any points just 'cause you're my boss." He started walking off the balcony with her in tow.

"Of course not. I'd have to fire you if you did." She smirked and held her breath when they stepped into the small teleporting room together.

* * *

"Oh that's going to hurt your score." Elizabeth watched John's ball go way off course. "Not playing as well as you've been gloating John."

"Hey I'm warming up. Just you wait until we hit the next hole." He waved his club at her. "You're going to be telling a very different story."

She smirked. "Well we'll just see about that."

He wasn't telling her that she was the reason he was being lousy. He couldn't perform well with her constantly staring at him. Those eyes looking over his body just spun his mind into a whole other performance and game.

"Damn it."

"What?" He looked up at her, ready for anything.

"I just got an e-mail from Rodney. Some of the scientists set off another Ancient…well they're not quite sure what it is yet. Could we continue our game later?"

"Sure." He gave her a fake smile. "No problem. It'll give me time to practice." He made a mental note to have Ronon help him beat up the scientists involved in this whole incident.

She nodded before leaving him. As she walked into the teleporter, she couldn't help but feel angry for losing that time with John. She'd be sure to give these scientists a piece of her mind…maybe unleash Ronon on them.

* * *

He nervously waved his hand over her door control. He wasn't even sure she was here. But he sure as hell wasn't going to do this in front of everyone else.

"John!" She raised her eyebrows in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"Can I come in?" He awkwardly shoved his hands into his pockets.

"Of course." She moved to let him in. "Is something wrong?"

"No everything's great. I just wanted to thank you for the golf course again."

"Don't mention it." She waved her hand as if she hadn't spent all that time making it happen. "Anyone else give you a gift?"

"Well, Rodney found out but he didn't give me anything like you did." John nearly rolled his eyes at the thought of it.

Her eyes narrowed. "What did he give you?"

"A lecture on how to calculate how many hours I've wasted celebrating my birthday each year."

Elizabeth couldn't help but chuckle. "No wonder you wanted to keep it quiet."

"Liz," he paused and took a step closer to her. He couldn't believe he was going to actually start this conversation that he's been dreaming about for so long. "Do you remember when those two aliens took over our bodies and tried to kill each other?"

"Remember? How could I forget?" She let out a nervous chuckle, not knowing where he was going with this.

"We--well, our aliens made us kiss each other and I…I can't stop thinking about it." Liz was already holding her breath. She hoped he would continue in the direction she wanted. "Before that I had had…well, my share of alien girls. There was Chaya, Teer, Mora--" He stopped himself short when he saw how angry it was getting her. "And well, you get the point."

"What does this have to do--"

"I haven't been with a single girl since our kiss," he blurted out without thinking. "I uh…I can't be with anyone else after that."

She lightly blushed. "John, really, I'm flattered but--"

Definitely not wanting to hear her excuses, he put his hands on her face and kissed her lovingly. Elizabeth immediately forgot about what she was going to say; her legs felt like they were on fire. She just melted against his lips and thought for a moment that she was going to forget how to breathe.

John had kissed a lot of girls. He knew that, quite obviously, and it was all really his looks and charm. But when he kissed Liz, something different went on inside him. He didn't know what it was but he wanted to find out.

He finally pulled away, though he didn't want to. He stood in front of her and waited for her reaction. When she didn't say anything, he felt depressed. "I'm sorry, that was--"

"Don't apologize," she whispered, kissing him lightly. When she pulled away, he was smiling. She chuckled and smiled back.

"Liz, I uh…I know this is going to sound really cheesy but I worked on it all the way over here and I'm not going to waste it…you're the best birthday present I could ever have." He looked relieved after saying it, as if the burden of hiding his feelings for her was suddenly lifted off of him.

She blushed and his smile widened. "So are you free for lunch tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow? Zelenka was actually going to--"

"Great! Thanks for cancelling that for me." He kissed her quickly and left the room before she could argue. She shook her head, wondering how she was going to get out of seeing Zelenka.

"See you tomorrow!" He shouted from the hall. She chuckled.

He suddenly re-appeared in her doorway. "Oh and one more thing…you taste better than a roast beef sandwich." He smirked at her, tapping the door with his finger a few times before leaving. Returning back to her work, Liz couldn't help but keep her large smile on her face. What she had wanted for all this time had happened. John Sheppard and Elizabeth Weir were a couple…finally.


End file.
